sore loser
by mew-tsubaki
Summary: M&MWP, drabble. There had been a time, once, when Alicia could handle not taking a win. .::Alicia/Percy/Audrey triangle::. Mention if used, thx. *For M&MWP Drabble Tag*


**sore loser**

A HariPo drabble

by mew-tsubaki

Note: The _Harry Potter_ characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not me. **This pairing was discovered by me, so please gimme a little mention if you write them**! **Thanks**! It is one of many of **Mew and Mor's Weird Pairings**, most of which you may find in the **M&MWP forum. **Check out and join the forum FUN! Read, review, and enjoy!

For: **Drabble Tag** in the M&MWP forum. Pairing: Alicia Spinnet/Percy Weasley. Prompt: "I've already lost this battle."

- ^-^3

She's not sure when he stopped looking at her.

Once upon a time (because that's how all fairytales go, and they just seemed too good to be true), Percy had learned to start feeling again and to start acting like a human again with her. Of course, that was right after the war when he'd grown close to his family once more.

The thing is, Percy isn't some hollow shell with red hair. He's a flesh-and-blood man who wrestles with his family issues until he's as red in the face as he is with his hair.

She didn't figure that out until after the battle, no. But Alicia was the only one fixing to understand him while George and Angelina wallowed in the background and Oliver comforted Katie to the side.

When she thinks back, she can think of the first time it occurred to her, that Percy was handsome.

She had touched his arm, a few hours after he'd collapsed like a statue at his dead brother's side. Now Alicia thinks it was highly inappropriate to think something like that while he'd been mourning, but she wasn't thinking that back then. So she'd touched his arm, said "hey," and he'd melted.

It had been like watching a statue come to life as he'd leant backwards into her. She'd caught him in her arms and held him while he cried, because he hadn't done that before since he'd been in shock, and it wasn't so bad, holding him, because she kind of knew him…as best as one could know someone by having a school, a dorm, and friends in common.

It'd been slow, at first. There was his initial thanks and denial that he'd ever been so emotional. But Alicia had gone along with it because that was just Percy for you and she felt used to it by now even though he was two years older than her and just her friends' older brother.

But they all came, in time and turn, to help George with the shop. And Alicia ran into Percy more and more, because he was making amends.

Of course, the fairytale came after that, along with the stolen glances, the accidental brushing of their hands as they passed each other Wheezes, the almost-kisses when they thought no one was looking. And then there was the first date and the actual first kiss and trying to keep their friends and family out of the loop because of the incessant teasing (even though there's nothing to be ashamed of dating a clever man like him or a burly woman like her).

But that was where the fairytale ended.

Alicia grits her teeth now as she thinks back on what happened. She feels so stupid for not having realized it sooner, but Percy was always the clever one in their relationship.

Because there was that new girl, the Muggle-born witch who owned that new gift shop in Diagon Alley. Audrey Desjardins: pretty brunette with gray eyes and sun-kissed skin who was taller than Alicia, prettier than Alicia.

Actually, Alicia notes, there never should've been a comparison. She and Percy were doomed from the moment Verity told them that Audrey was an old classmate from Beauxbatons, because the next thing they knew Audrey was around more and more until she was around all the time.

And so the months and even years passed and Bill and Fleur made a family and even George and Angelina were thinking about it and Katie and Oliver had long ago broken up but even Alicia began to wonder where she and Percy were going.

She was in for the long haul, at the time. She was used to having a long match before victory was in her grasp. Quidditch had taught her patience.

But Quidditch could never have taught her how to handle falling out of love…which is just like falling out of the sky, apparently.

Because Audrey was there and pretty and more compatible with Percy and could make him laugh and still let him be Percy at the same time and she wasn't Alicia and—and—

Eventually Percy just stopped looking Alicia's way.

Alicia bitterly smiles now as she looks at her friends and admires their happiness and thinks of what she almost had…not. Because it was never about winning the battle for Percy's heart.

There was no winning; she'd lost from the get-go.

- ^-^3

**:O Sad… But I got to work in some of my head-canon about Audrey… Poor Alicia, though… It's all right, though. I ship her with someone else, though I love her and Percy, too; I **_**always**_** think of it as her having her own Weasley (because I kinda like Katie/Fred and George/Angelina). Anywho! Sad. ;_;**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**

**-mew-tsubaki D:**


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